Thrive Global: Holding Space for Others

Vice - Tonic: We Asked Former Workaholics How They Became Fun Again by Mandy Stadtmiller

Why risk reaching burnout when you can go live near the beach and paint for a living?

Millennials get a bad rap for being flaky, yet somehow America's youngest working professionals rarely disconnect from their work lives. One recent survey showed that a quarter of men and women between the ages of 18 and 25 don't take any of their vacation days. Another found that nearly half of millennials actually say they want to be seen as "work martyrs"—willing and eager to give up time off to impress higher-ups. That kind of mentality, of course, takes a mental and physical toll. The American Psychiatric Association, for instance, has found that "workaholism" is often tied to problems like depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. A Norwegian study of more than 16,000 adults found that rates of anxiety among workaholics were nearly triple that of people who maintained a more normal schedule. Finding balance when you've been working yourself to death isn't easy—but it's doable, if you're willing to put in the effort. We talked to seven people who pulled it off.